Building Shells: Building Community is a preservation, policy and design project that explores how the community can work collectively to prevent historic buildings from becoming shells, and to use art as a way to reactivate existing building shells to encourage future redevelopment. Specifically, we are looking at small but proactive ways the community can work together in partnership with the municipality to preserve these historic building assets and, in doing so, stabilize the neighborhood.

The project has had several big milestones since its launch in 2020 including the creation of a Community Toolkit, the launch of walking tours and an architectural scavenger hunt, and the commission of a site-specific artwork. Please visit the Fullerton Center website to read more about these initiatives.

The project was spearheaded by Liz McEnaney and Naomi Hersson-Ringskog with the support of the Fullerton Center board. The work could not have happened without the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation; and the Open Space Institute's 2022 McHenry Award.